AI is reshaping education, and institutions need a plan. With new education insights from the 2024 Work Trend Index Annual Survey, it’s clear that AI use in education is here with 71% of education professionals using it at work. At the same time, 63% reported their institutions lack a vision and plan to implement AI, likely contributing to 81% of education professionals not using tools provided to them—but instead choosing to bring their own AI to work (BYOAI).

As the future of work and education continues to evolve with AI innovation, it’s increasingly important to ensure that educators and students are engaged and encouraged to build AI literacy. 77% of business leaders say with AI, early-in-career talent will be given greater responsibilities, yet many education professionals express reluctance to admit to using AI and say they don’t know how to use it effectively. Learn more about the need for bridging the AI literacy gap and starting AI conversations in our AI in Education Report.

Enhancing Microsoft Copilot with enterprise data protection

Microsoft Copilot is your AI assistant for education, providing secure access to advanced AI models for free so you can focus on what matters most. We’ll continue bringing new models to Copilot, now including GPT-4o, and capabilities like recent chats to reference or continue previous chats. In August 2024, we shared several additional updates to enhance data security, privacy, compliance, and user experience which begins rolling out today. While signed in with a school account, Copilot will offer enterprise data protection (EDP) in a simplified, ad-free interface that can be accessed at Microsoft.com/copilot, in the Microsoft 365 app, and will soon be available in Microsoft Teams and Outlook. 

Enterprise data protection means that your Copilot prompts and responses are protected by the same terms and commitments that are widely trusted by our customers—not only for Microsoft 365 Copilot, but also for emails in Exchange and files in SharePoint. With EDP, we secure your data, your data is private, and your access controls and policies apply based on the underlying subscription plan. Additionally, we help safeguard against AI-focused risks such as harmful content and prompt injections, and your data isn’t used to train foundation models.

Education institutions like Wichita Public Schools and Auburn University have already leveraged Copilot to empower students, faculty, staff, and researchers. We look forward to continuing to support institutions worldwide in their mission to provide equitable AI access and learning about where Copilot is improving educational outcomes.

These updates will be available to all educators, staff, and higher education students aged 18 and older over the next month. We’re also excited to continue our private preview program for students 13 and older, now with enterprise data protection. For more information, review the enterprise data protection FAQ.

Microsoft Copilot Wave 2 innovation

Microsoft 365 Copilot, integrated into the apps you use every day and available as an add-on, has added 150 new features and capabilities since general availability and more than 700 product updates based on customer feedback. We’ve announced three key updates: Business Chat and Copilot Pages, transforming Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps, and Copilot agents.

Business Chat and Copilot Pages

• Business Chat (BizChat) is a central hub that brings together all your data—web data, work data, and line of business data—with the rich capabilities of the Microsoft 365 apps. BizChat is where you can work with Copilot like a partner, turning organizational content into a rich database of information and insight.
• Copilot Pages is a dynamic, persistent canvas in BizChat designed for AI collaboration to ensure the data in your organization is persistent, accessible, and valuable. You and your team can work collaboratively in a Page with Copilot, seeing everyone’s work in real time. In the coming weeks, we’re also bringing Pages to the free Microsoft Copilot when signed in with a Microsoft Entra account.

Updates to Copilot in the Microsoft 365 apps

• Copilot in Excel is now generally available with new skills, and we announced Copilot in Excel with Python—empowering anyone to conduct advance analysis or visualize complex data—all using natural language, no coding required. 
• Copilot in PowerPoint now offers Narrative Builder, helping you to iterate with Copilot to build a great first draft in minutes and with Brand manager, Copilot can leverage your organization’s branded templates.
• Copilot in Teams can now reason over both the meeting transcript and the meeting chat to give you a complete picture of what was discussed and leave no question, idea, or contribution behind.
• Copilot in Outlook helps you quickly get to the messages that matter with Prioritize My Inbox, which analyzes your inbox and soon, you’ll even be able to teach Copilot the specific topics, keywords, or people that are important to you.
• Copilot in Word will enable you to quickly reference not only Word, PowerPoint, PDFs, and encrypted documents, but also emails and meetings, and offers the ability to partner with Copilot inline as you work on specific sections of your document.
• Copilot in OneDrive is rolling out now and makes it easy to gain insights, summarize, and compare up to five files with a clear, easy-to-ready summary of the details and differences within your files—without opening a file.

Copilot agents

• Now generally available in BizChat, Copilot agents run the spectrum from simple, prompt-and-response agents that anyone can build, to more advanced, fully autonomous agents.
• Simple and secure to manage, all agents have the same Responsible AI and enterprise data protection promises—your data never leaves the Microsoft 365 trust boundary, and everything happens within your tenant.
• To make it even easier to build custom agents, we announced agent builder. It’s a new, simplified experience that complements Copilot Studio to enable easy creation of custom agents and realize the value of your organizational data.

Copilot is transforming productivity in the workplace, empowering customers to accelerate research on rare diseases, save customer service agents hours each week, or go from content ideation to production significantly faster, and more.

In education, institutions like the University of South Florida are preparing students for this new future of work and are already seeing the value for their faculty and staff. We’ll also continue to enhance the value of Microsoft 365 Copilot with capabilities built for students and educators.

Get started on your AI journey

With new innovations and improvements coming every day, one constant is the importance of providing guidance, learning opportunities, and resources. We’ve compiled a relevant list below to help you get started.

Learn from more educators, and students:

• Discover Smart ways students are using AI responsibly at every level to enhance learning and avoid potential pitfalls.
• Hear from O’Dea High School and Indiana University educators on how Educators and students now have a secure AI ‘scaffolding’ to support them in the classroom.

Explore and share AI resources:

• Microsoft Education AI Toolkit: Designed to guide school leaders through the process of integrating AI into their school’s operations and building robust plans for your organization.
• AI for educators learning pathway: Explore the potential of AI in education, enhance teaching and learning with Microsoft Copilot, and equip and support learners.
• AI Classroom Toolkit: A creative resource that blends engaging narrative stories with instructional information to create an immersive learning experience.
• Microsoft Copilot Scenario Library: Get inspired with guidance by departments such as IT, HR, Legal, Communications, Operations, and more.
• Copilot technical skilling resources: A collection of kits, learning paths, Microsoft Mechanics videos, resources for developers, and upcoming events for Microsoft 365 Copilot.
• Worklab: explore the latest research insights on the future of work and generative AI
• Minecraft Education AI Foundations: A set of accessible, engaging materials for building AI literacy with Minecraft for students, educators, and families.
• AI Guidance for Schools Toolkit from TeachAI: Designed to help education authorities, school leaders, and teachers create thoughtful guidance.

The post Bringing a new wave of Copilot innovation to education appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

AI-powered tools to support educators

For educators seeking inspiring and innovative instructional strategies, Microsoft AI tools provide much needed assistance. Explore how these tools can help you save time, personalize learning, and renew your passion for teaching.

• Microsoft Copilot can help you generate engaging content and individualized suggestions, freeing up more time for direct student interaction. For added data protection, sign in using your school account. Use Copilot to create personalized content and tailored feedback based on a student’s unique learning requirements. You can also get suggestions for activities, resources, and assessments aligned with learning objectives or a rubric that you can attach to get recommendations specific to your classroom needs. Copilot is available at no cost with your school account and is accessible in Windows, Edge, and on the web.
• Copilot for Microsoft 365 gives you the power of Microsoft Copilot integrated seamlessly into the Microsoft 365 apps you use every day, like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Try generating creative writing prompts, translating languages, or summarizing complex topics in Word. It can also help streamline lesson planning by creating slides in PowerPoint on any topic or from any file, saving you valuable prep time.
• Microsoft Teams for Education is packed with AI features to help you set up your classroom for success. Streamline grading with AI-powered rubrics that adapt to student responses, allowing you to spend less time grading and more time supporting your students’ learning. You can also create comprehension questions tailored to the individual needs of your students or generate modules and descriptions for your class based on the subject, grade level, and learning objectives.

Discover more ways to use AI to support your instructional practice this school year:

• Empower your classroom with the knowledge to navigate AI responsibly by integrating the AI Classroom Toolkit into your lessons. It helps educators to teach students aged 13-15 how to use AI tools effectively through critical conversations and hands-on activities that build skills like fact-checking, data privacy, and mental wellbeing.
• Build fundamental AI skills with your learners in the engaging world of Minecraft Education. AI Foundations is a new AI literacy program that includes bite-sized animated videos that explain AI to learners ages 8 and up, free teaching materials and parent guide, and an imaginative new Minecraft world called Fantastic Fairgrounds where players solve problems and explore careers with AI (available in both Minecraft Education and Bedrock Edition on the Marketplace).
• Khanmigo for Teachers is an AI-powered tool that helps you generate fresh lesson ideas, personalizes student assignments, and explore resources so you can enhance your knowledge and stay current on content area topics. Created by Khan Academy and powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, Khanmigo for Teachers is available for free in English across more than 40 countries.
• Learn more ways to use Copilot in your classroom from the Microsoft Education blog post “Meet your AI assistant for education: Microsoft Copilot” and download the Microsoft Copilot Quick Guide to get started today.
• Explore the training course “Enhance teaching and learning with Microsoft Copilot” to learn how to use Copilot, design effective prompts, and analyze results.

Improved efficiencies for school leaders and staff

School leaders and staffs’ days are often filled with administrative tasks like responding to emails, attending meetings, and filling out paperwork. Microsoft’s AI-powered tools and resources offer support in managing day-to-day responsibilities, helping to enhance efficiency and streamline operations. Discover how these solutions can help you optimize workflows, improve communication, and focus more on fostering a positive school community.

• The Microsoft Education AI Toolkit is designed to guide school leaders through the process of integrating AI into their school’s operations and building robust plans for your organization. This toolkit offers you insights in how others are leveraging AI-powered technology, access to a collection of the latest research on AI in schools, and supports the latest information on Microsoft’s AI technology designed for education.
• Copilot for Microsoft 365 can transform how you handle time-consuming everyday tasks like emails and meetings. Use it to summarize long email threads and draft suggested replies in Microsoft Outlook. You can also use it to summarize key discussion points in Teams meetings, helping you keep track of action items and follow-ups. Try saving time by creating professional looking slides for staff meetings or board meetings.
• Copilot in Power BI offers advanced data analysis capabilities, allowing you to generate insightful reports, visualizations, and narrative summaries. Just describe your desired outcomes, and Copilot will deliver, making it simpler to track student performance, present insights, or conduct research. This intuitive tool helps you communicate data insights clearly, supporting informed decision-making and enriching the learning experience. By consolidating data into a centralized environment and leveraging Power BI’s advanced analytics, educational institutions can gain near real-time insights into student performance and operational efficiency, saving hours of manual labor through automated data processes.

Explore more ways to use AI to enhance operational efficiencies. Check out the AI learning hub on Microsoft Learn to help you skill up and use the power of AI to transform your work.

Enhanced operations and security for school IT teams

School IT teams play an important role in ensuring the smooth operations of school technology systems. Microsoft’s AI tools provide robust solutions to support IT professionals in managing security, data, and overall IT infrastructure efficiently. Learn how these tools can help you enhance cybersecurity, streamline data management, and improve IT operations.

• GitHub Copilot is an AI-powered assistant designed to help IT teams write code faster with fewer errors. It suggests code completions and generates entire code blocks, allowing you to automate repetitive tasks and focus on more complex issues. With GitHub Copilot, you can improve your development workflows, enforce code consistency, and reduce the time spent on debugging and code reviews.
• Microsoft Defender helps IT teams amplify security through advanced, comprehensive endpoint protection with AI capabilities. Defender promotes school safety by filtering harmful content and protecting sensitive data through robust encryption. School IT teams can use Microsoft Defender to increase their efficiency while securing schools at scale. Likewise, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P2 – Students extends this industry-transforming technology to student devices, neutralizing malware and phishing attempts to safeguard your school from cyberattacks. Should an attack occur, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P2 – Students’ automated response swiftly isolates compromised devices, minimizing damage and maintaining control.
• Copilot for Security further empowers IT teams with AI to help defend at machine speed. When integrated with Microsoft Sentinel, Copilot can summarize vast data signals into key insights, cutting through the noise to detect cyberthreats before they cause harm. Copilot can generate incident reports suitable for non-technical audiences, such as your school board, and identify user risks or generate access policies. This helps you respond to incidents in minutes instead of hours or days. Pricing for Copilot for Security and Sentinel is usage based and available as an add-on to Microsoft 365 academic licenses.

Learn more about how AI can support your IT teams:

• Discover how to better respond to security threats in this Microsoft Copilot for Security training module and uncover the steps to making the most of this AI-powered security analysis tool.
• Find out how to use AI to streamline your work with GitHub Copilot in this Microsoft Learn Official Collection.

Whether you’re an educator seeking innovative instructional strategies, a school leader aiming to improve efficiencies, or an IT professional focused on enhancing cybersecurity and data management, Microsoft’s AI-powered solutions are here to help. With tools like Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Teams for Education, and Copilot for Security, your school can achieve these goals and more. Equip your school with the AI tools it needs to thrive this school year, and focus on what truly matters—supporting and engaging your students, family, and staff.

The post Power your school year with AI solutions for educators, leaders, and IT teams appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

By integrating these resources into your classroom, you can encourage meaningful exploration and representation of the diverse cultural landscape that exists within the Hispanic community.

Foster inclusivity and inspire learning with Minecraft Education

Millions of educators and students use Minecraft for game-based learning. Integrate the LatinExplorers worlds from Minecraft Education into your classroom instruction to give students the opportunity to see themselves and their culture represented in engaging, interactive ways.

Through these immersive experiences developed with the Hispanic Heritage Foundation, students can delve deeper into topics that impact the Hispanic community. They will meet characters inspired by Latinx leaders who have lead change in climate science, community services, and the creative arts, inspiring a new generation to lead with purpose.

• LatinExplorers offers a unique exploration of Hispanic heritage, showcasing how Latinx community members are leading the way, from supporting those in need to standing up for others.
• LatinExplorers 2 is a continuation of Minecraft Education and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s commitment to inspire the next generation of leaders. It presents a new way to build leadership and social-emotional skills, teaching students how leaders in the Hispanic community can motivate them to take meaningful action in their own communities.

The game-based LatinExplorers worlds are available to all Minecraft Education users in 29 languages, providing an inclusive experience. You can use lesson materials and family resources to help students learn and explore through both guided practice and independent adventures.

Interested in incorporating Minecraft Education into your Hispanic Heritage Month lessons, but not sure how? Take the Minecraft Education: Teacher Academy learning path designed to boost your confidence using Minecraft as a powerful tool for teaching and learning.

Leverage Copilot to plan meaningful instruction

Copilot offers powerful tools to help educators create dynamic and culturally rich lesson plans for Hispanic Heritage Month. By leveraging Copilot, you can easily access and create a variety of educational resources, including articles, multimedia content, and interactive activities. Copilot can suggest lesson structures, themes, and activities that align with educational standards, ensuring that learning experiences are both engaging and educational.

Tailor these prompts in Copilot to your classroom and learning objectives to help you get started:

Develop a lesson plan for fifth graders to celebrate the achievements of Hispanic figures in STEM. The lesson plan should include a project that allows students to explore one or more figures extensively and be aligned to fifth grade NGSS standards. Include suggestions for notable and lesser-known Hispanic figures, research activities, and relevant historical content that will foster a deeper understanding and appreciation.

Create an inquiry-based unit plan for high school students that delves into contemporary issues facing the Hispanic community in the United States. Include prompts to spark critical thinking discussions, unbiased primary and secondary sources, and a thorough rubric for students to use to guide their work.

Design an engaging lesson for third grade students around global Hispanic cultural traditions, specifying countries of origin and cultural significance. It should avoid stereotypes and encourage in-depth exploration in a respectful and meaningful way. Include age-appropriate reading materials, multimedia resources, and interactive activities that align to third grade TEKS ELA standards.

Generate an eighth-grade math unit plan that explores the contributions of Hispanic architects and engineers aligned to eighth grade Wisconsin Standards for Mathematics. Incorporate sample geometry and algebra problems inspired by their work, as well as activities that involve analyzing architectural designs or engineering solutions from Hispanic cultures without promoting stereotypes. These activities should be engaging and hands-on and provide real-world application.

By using these prompts or creating your own, you can harness the potential of Copilot to create meaningful, inclusive lessons that celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in a way that resonates with your students.

Amplify voices of the Hispanic community in your classroom

Copilot can also be a valuable tool to provide ideas and resources that help amplify diverse voices in your classroom. With your input, it can recommend guest speakers, virtual field trips to Hispanic cultural sites, and projects that connect students with Hispanic community leaders. You can also use Copilot to suggest literature, music, and art from Hispanic creators, enriching your classroom with authentic and diverse perspectives.

Customize these prompts in Copilot to explore ways to diversify your classroom experience:

Curate a list of age-appropriate literature and picture books by Hispanic authors that would engage second grade students. The books should introduce students to a variety of Hispanic cultures and perspectives without perpetuating stereotypes. Include the theme of each book and a short summary.

Create a month-long exploratory unit for a middle school art class that meets twice a week for 45 minutes. The theme of the unit is Hispanic artists and their works. The unit should include some research as well as a project that pays homage to a Hispanic artist of the students’ choosing. Provide a list of research sources about various Hispanic artists with ways to digitally view artwork and any relevant historical information.

Develop a list of songs, rhymes, or stories from Hispanic cultures and languages that would engage kindergarten students. Avoid content with stereotypes and bias that marginalize the Hispanic community. Include any relevant background information and suggested actions or movements to accompany them.

Generate a plan for a high school class where students research and present on the contributions of local Hispanic community leaders. Students should include details on how these leaders have impacted our community and how their stories can be integrated into current social issues or historical contexts. Provide ideas for how students can connect with these leaders or their work through virtual interviews or online resources.

Check out the “How to create a great Microsoft Copilot prompt” video to learn how to craft your own prompts. Then, use your prompts to support learning during Hispanic Heritage Month 2024 and throughout the school year.

Empower your students this Hispanic Heritage Month with educational experiences from Microsoft Education. Celebrate the diverse cultures and perspectives of the Hispanic community with LatinExplorers from Minecraft Education and use Copilot to help craft engaging lessons. By incorporating these tools, you’ll not only enhance your students’ learning journey but also contribute to a more inclusive and culturally vibrant classroom environment.

The post Honor Hispanic Heritage Month 2024 with Minecraft Education and Microsoft Copilot appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

This year’s focus is promoting multilingual education, emphasizing the potential of literacy to foster mutual understanding and peace. Research highlights the cognitive, pedagogical, and socioeconomic benefits of a first language-based, multilingual approach—benefits you can bring to your community as a school leader and educator.

To support you in this important work, our learning tools and Learning Accelerators can help you personalize education and create supportive learning environments. These solutions offer features to enhance literacy for Multilingual Learners of English (MLEs), ensuring that every student can thrive. Additionally, Microsoft Copilot can help you develop inclusive policies and practices and empower you to cultivate lifelong learning.

Implement inclusive policies and practices for multilingual education

A first language-based, multilingual approach to education recognizes the linguistic diversity of students as an asset to learning and social participation, fostering greater equity in education. You can promote this approach by advocating for inclusive policies and implementing practices that value and include students’ culture and linguistic backgrounds.

AI-powered tools, like Copilot, offer powerful support in advancing multilingual education within your school. To get started, use Microsoft Copilot to refine and develop policies and practices that promote multilingual education. You can even upload your existing policies to get personalized recommendations and revisions. For enhanced data protection, sign in using your school account.

Here is a prompt you can personalize and use in Copilot:

Develop policies and practices to support a first language-based multilingual program, including timelines, active community involvement, and guide for implementation. Ensure that inclusive language policies are developed and supported by students, families, and staff and that the process fosters shared ownership and sustainability. Language diversity should be viewed as an asset and practices should be implemented that leverage students’ multilingual strengths. Consider programming that supports learners who are multilingual within the mainstream classroom through co-teaching and interaction in diverse groups.

As you explore the strategies from the Copilot prompt, consider which practices you can implement immediately to support MLEs in your classroom. You can also extend the prompt to think about how you might present these ideas to school leadership to support multilingual education in your school.

Empower MLEs with Microsoft tools for literacy

You can also promote multilingual education in your classrooms by leveraging the existing literacy skills of MLEs in their home languages to build on their strengths. Microsoft offers a variety of literacy solutions to support MLEs, helping you ensure that inclusive school policies translate into effective, day-to-day classroom practices.

Support access to text with Immersive Reader

Immersive Reader provides MLEs with literacy tools that help them access texts in their preferred language. This tool empowers learners to take charge of their literacy experience and customize their support.

Learn more about how you can use Immersive Reader to support literacy needs.

• Read text aloud: Build literacy skills by having text read aloud. As the text is read, the words are highlighted, allowing MLEs to follow along and match the word to the appropriate pronunciation and spelling. 
• Translate to home language: Translate individual words or the entire passage into students’ home language. This feature enables students with different levels of English proficiency to engage with the text in their preferred language.
• Visualize words: Use the Picture Dictionary tool to visualize text that represents a selected word. This tool can make it easier for MLEs to understand and retain new vocabulary.

To learn more about how to integrate these features into your classroom, check out the Immersive Reader Quick Guide.

Provide customized reading feedback with Reading Progress

Reading Progress, a Learning Accelerator, makes customized literacy instruction possible with immediate, personalized feedback, allowing MLEs to sharpen their individual literacy and pronunciation skills. Schools like the Royal Grammar School in Newcastle, United Kingdom, used Reading Progress for teaching Spanish as a foreign language and made significant literacy gains in Spanish:

• 22.43 words-per-minute increase in reading rate.
• 13.29% improvement in reading accuracy.
• A reduction of 7 average mispronunciations per task.

Learn more about how you can use Reading Progress to support the literacy needs of MLEs.

• AI-generated passages: Create personalized reading passages by selecting challenge words, topics, age, length, and language for your MLEs.
• Comprehension questions: Develop comprehension questions with the power of AI and edit them before sharing with students, providing a tailored reading experience. Customize the questions to the needs of MLEs to help students gain lifelong reading comprehension skills.
• Pronunciation sensitivity: Support your MLE with customized pronunciation sensitivity that accommodates your student’s speech pattern and accent. This tool can help your students develop nuanced pronunciation skills for challenging words.

Discover more in the Reading Progress Quick Guide and the “Support reading fluency practice with Reading Progress” training module on Microsoft Learn.

Offer opportunities for literacy practice with Reading Coach

Reading Coach Preview offers personalized reading fluency practice through AI-generated stories with customizable characters and settings, and options to choose your own path through the story. This innovative tool supports students with targeted word practice, motivational rewards, and includes Immersive Reader for a fully accessible learning experience.

Learn more about how you can use Reading Coach to support literacy needs.

• AI generated stories: Generate unique stories with the “Create a Story” mode that offers 26 main characters, from dogs to dragons, and 13 varied locations like castles or outer space. Students pick a character and location, set their reading level, and AI crafts a story with the option to choose a path through each chapter. Challenging words from one chapter are automatically included in the next chapter.
• Pick passages from a library or add your own content: Educators can help students pick leveled passages from a curated library of fiction and non-fiction passages or provide their own content to read.
• Practice pronunciation with coaching: Practice difficult words and explore their pronunciation through visual syllable cues, hearing the word read out aloud, and getting coached on the mispronunciation. This feature helps MLEs decode text and access content more effectively.

Reading Coach Preview is currently available for free in English to use at school with a Microsoft Entra ID (school account) or at home using a personal Microsoft account. Get started with Reading Coach online or download the Windows app.

Discover more about AI-generated reading passages in Reading Coach Preview with the Reading Coach with AI stories Quick Guide and the “Build reading fluency with Reading Coach” training course on Microsoft Learn.

Get actionable literacy data with Education Insights

Education Insights in Microsoft Teams for Education offers a wide range of actionable student data to help you make informed decisions to support each student’s unique academic and linguistic needs. With Education Insights, you can easily streamline your decision-making process, analyze academic and literacy trends, and identify students who may need additional support.

Learn more about how you can use Education Insights to support the literacy needs of MLEs.

• Analyze progress and data: Review individual, group, and whole class data efficiently to monitor reading progress and inform inclusive instructional decisions. This tool provides a clear overview that helps you quickly identify trends and address challenges that MLEs may be having.
• Practice challenging words: Create personalized or whole-class practice assignments to address MLEs’ reading and language needs. Education Insights analyzes challenging words and phonics rules from Reading Progress and Reading Coach data to inform instruction and create vocabulary activities that target areas where students need the most support.

To learn more about using Education Insights to explore actionable student data and support literacy, visit the Educator’s guide to Insights in Microsoft Teams from Microsoft Support.

Celebrate International Literacy Day 2024 with us and empower your MLEs through cutting-edge learning tools from Microsoft. Get started with Learning Accelerators and transform your classroom with a multilingual approach that meets every learner’s needs.

The post Celebrate International Literacy Day 2024 with Microsoft Education appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

“That’s one of the best uses for AI in an academic setting,” Evans says, “because sometimes you can read a paragraph five times and still not understand until the concept is explained in a different way.” 

Generative AI is opening up all sorts of new avenues for learning, from personalized tutoring to study guides. But as with any technology, it’s helpful to know its strengths and limitations before diving in.  

We talked with some students, parents and educators who’ve embraced the new tools for tips on how to use AI responsibly at every level to enhance learning and avoid potential pitfalls.   

“The key,” says Matt Hall, a professor in Texas, “is two words: Use it. And once you’re done using it, use it again. Use it as early as possible, and learn to become a good prompt writer. Using AI is a basic life skill now, and if you’re not using it, you’ll be at a competitive disadvantage.”   

Younger learners

Elementary school-aged students can benefit from AI-powered programs to help learn the fundamentals such as reading and math.

Elementary school-aged students can benefit from programs that are powered by AI as they focus on building foundational skills. Aren Uzun, a 12-year-old seventh-grader in California, uses Reading Coach after school to help him practice reading and speaking — and says he is getting higher grades as a result.  

Ava Gerlach, a 10-year-old fifth-grader in Florida, is learning about AI in Minecraft Education to get more comfortable with the new technology and the ways it can help her learn in the future. 

What AI can help students do

Tools like Reading Coach—part of Learning Accelerators—can help kids boost their confidence by practicing skills with a less intimidating audience, such as before reading out loud in front of the whole class, says Aren’s mom, Cigdem Patlak Uzun. Aren is more comfortable presenting to others and is more willing to take the risk of sharing ideas now that he can test the waters first with secure AI coaches built for learning, she says. 

“For some of my presentations I got lower grades, so I wanted to see exactly what I was doing wrong,” Aren says. Reading Coach showed “that I was speaking too fast and said some words incorrectly, so it helped me fix that.” 

There’s value in learning how to learn and how to constantly grow with these new tools.

James Evans

Ava says she was first introduced to the concept of AI through Minecraft Education’s Hour of Code last year, and now she can spout off an explanation at the drop of a hat: “AI is basically a human-made technology that helps people with real-world problems,” she says. 

“I will probably use it as a fifth-grader to help me with research, studying and understanding the steps to math equations,” Ava says. “Especially going back to school now, I’m going to need a refresher on long division.”

Tips for using AI in learning

Kids need to learn the fundamentals first and focus on ways to build their skills with AI tools, Aren says. “You shouldn’t be using AI to figure out how to do the beginning of something,” he says. “Like, if you’re learning what 1+1 is, and AI tells you the answer is 2 but you don’t know why, then later there could be a test on what is 198+275 and you wouldn’t know how to calculate it. It’s better to use it for something that will help you forever, like how to improve your writing skills and do research for new ideas.” 

The personalized guidance in Reading Coach helps keep students engaged — “almost like getting a personal tutor with one-on-one instruction,” Patlak Uzun says. Aren urges fellow students not to share personal information, such as an age or address, online and says younger kids generally should use AI alongside an adult. A recent 4H study backs that up, showing that 72% of the kids surveyed are seeking support from adults in learning how to use these new tools correctly and with confidence. 

Minecraft Education has given Ava a way “to explore things in a safe context,” says Ava’s mom, Holly Gerlach. “And she’s learning about the principles of creating with AI and thinking about inclusivity, privacy and security.” 

High school years

Teens can benefit from AI tools that help build skills such as information literacy and how to validate sources.

As kids get more involved with technology and start using AI, tools such as Search Coach can help by teaching information literacy and how to validate sources. Those are foundational skills students need now, says Isabelle Armstrong, a 16-year-old high school student near Perth, Australia. 

What AI can help students do

Isabelle says Search Coach has helped her narrow down her prompts to be more specific, so now she gets more relevant and trustworthy answers from AI. That, in turn, has taught her how to be more concise and precise with the essays she writes for English classes. “I’m a bit of a rambler,” she says, “so this is helping me get more clear with what I’m saying and get to the point.” 

AI tools can help generate ideas and assist with research, Isabelle says. “It helps kickstart the process and guide me so I’m not looking at the wrong things,” she says. 

“Using AI to brainstorm can help the students work smarter, not harder,” says Kylie Kingdon, who teaches remote classes for kids spread out all over Western Australia, including Isabelle’s modern history class. Kingdon uses Copilot in class to show students various prompts and responses and help them ascertain “what’s good and what’s not. They can see what my prompts are and the answer that’s come out, and that prepares them for the future.”  

The skill of learning how to use AI effectively is helpful throughout a student’s education, Kingdon says — such as realizing that if you only ask for information about “President Roosevelt” for the U.S. history class she teaches, you could get back an answer about Theodore when you meant Franklin. 

AI is basically a human-made technology that helps people with real-world problems.

Ava Gerlach

Search Coach also instructs students in how to evaluate sources, Isabelle says, to get more reliable and less biased information. “We learned the difference between .com and .org and other different domains,” she says. “It’s good to see your searching habits and where you can improve and maybe branch out to different websites or domains, or change what words you use to get different answers. It helps to see your patterns. 

“That’s helped me refine what I’m looking for to get better results.”

Tips for using AI in learning

Use AI as an aid to help learn subjects, but not to produce final coursework, the student and teacher both say. “You need to utilize it in a way that helps you build the skills, not just to get the work done,” Isabelle says.  

AI tools won’t be available in every setting, such as exams, so it’s important to know how to do assignments yourself, she says. “Don’t rely on it as a crutch.” 

It’s all about the process for her students, Kingdon adds. “It’s no longer the final result that’s important,” she says, “but giving them the tools to do all of this.”

Higher education

Older students can benefit from AI’s help with the more intense courseloads—as well as with life skills such as meal planning.

College and university students will find that AI can help them both in and out of the classroom, as they’re hit with intense courseloads as well as the complexity of stepping out of the childhood nest into adulthood, says Evans, the 21-year-old student from Florida who’s moving to Pennsylvania to start on a master’s degree in business analytics. 

What AI can help students do

In addition to reframing complicated concepts to help him better grasp them, Evans uses AI to help create study guides or practice tests, to brainstorm essay ideas and the best structures for presentations, and to research topics. 

Students now need to synthesize massive amounts of data in short periods of time, says Hall, the professor in Texas. Using Copilot for Microsoft 365—with permission from everyone participating—to record, transcribe and summarize classes and meetings can be a huge help with that, he says. It’s also worth asking Copilot to condense reports that might be hundreds of pages long into the key points, to see if the information is relevant to a study topic and worth spending the time to fully read. 

AI tools can help students learn the language of unfamiliar subjects and industries, such as helping Evans talk about warehouses, shipping and logistics for a business class. And that, along with knowing how to use new technology in general, could be valuable in landing an internship or that first job, he says. 

For school projects that require creativity, Copilot can be “a pull-start lawnmower to get you going,” Hall says.  

Using AI is a basic life skill now, and if you’re not using it, you’ll be at a competitive disadvantage.

Matt Hall

Evans says AI is helpful outside the classroom, too—especially for university students living away from their parents and “trying to figure out the logistics of life,” including activities like meal planning.  

“One of the biggest things you hear everywhere is, ‘never stop learning; always be learning something new,’” Evans says. “There’s value in learning how to learn and how to constantly grow with these new tools, because we’re on the precipice and seeing this major change with technology.”  

Tips for using AI in learning

Don’t use AI to write your schoolwork, Evans and Hall advise. Even though AI can write, it won’t have your voice or style, Evans says, and those are important to put out in the world. “We view AI as a co-creator or referential tool,” Hall says. “Don’t cheat yourself out of the learning journey.” 

Evans recommends learning how to do something yourself before getting AI to help with it, to make sure you can assess if the final product is accurate and good. 

Trust but verify, they both say. Use tools such as Copilot that provide sources and citations along with their answers, Hall says, to help with veracity checks. “At the end of the day, I’m the one who needs to make sure the information in my presentation is right,” Evans says. “And I need to learn these lessons before I get to the corporate world.” 

Learn how to talk with other students about AI as well, Evans says. Some will be more comfortable than others using it for help with group projects. 

Most importantly: how students use AI in the classroom will probably continue to evolve as quickly as technology itself. “Next semester my answers could change,” Evans says, “because we’re still learning it, and learning how to use it, and it’s changing with us.”

Photos, from top to bottom: Aren Uzun at Meadow Park Elementary School in Irvine, California (photo by Earnie Grafton); Ava Gerlach (photo courtesy of Holly Gerlach); Isabelle Armstrong (photo courtesy of Armstrong); James Evans (photo courtesy of Evans)

The post Smart ways students are using AI appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Educator benefits:

• Streamline public speaking instruction and identify focus areas.
• Provide automatic, personalized feedback on qualities like pace, pitch, filler words, and more.
• Examine skill development over time for individuals, classes, grade or year levels, and schools.

Student benefits:

• Build confidence in public speaking through AI-powered real-time coaching.
• Offer a private space to practice and refine presentation delivery.
• Develop critical foundational and future-ready communication skills.

How to create a Speaker Progress assignment

Creating engaging speaking assignments for your students is quick and easy with Speaker Progress. All you need is a class in Microsoft Teams for Education to get started. Here’s how to set up your first assignment:

• Open Microsoft Teams for Education and go to Assignments in a class channel.
• Select Create.
• Select Learning Accelerators and then Speaker Progress.

Check out the Getting started with Speaker Progress for educators article from Microsoft Support for more details.

Tip: If you already have an assignment created, you can also add a Speaker Progress activity by selecting Learning Accelerators from the New assignment screen. This is helpful when you already have existing content that might benefit from a presentation practice session.

Customize the assignment

When you add a Speaker Progress assignment, you can customize how students practice their presentation. You determine important parameters like how much time is spent practicing, how many attempts can be made, and how students receive feedback.

To customize a Speaker Progress assignment:

• Choose an engaging Presentation title that reflects the assignment’s purpose. Consider using the name of the presentation that students will practice.
• Determine the Number of attempts a student can practice their presentation before submitting the assignment.
• Set the time limit that students can practice their presentation during each attempt. Time ranges are between 1-10 minutes.
• Decide if you want to Require video when students complete the assignment. If selected, a recording of the attempt is made with the student’s internal camera and shared with you when submitted. If you want to include body language feedback, you need to choose this option.
• Decide whether to release a rehearsal report to students at the end of each attempt. The rehearsal report contains AI-generated feedback on communication skills listed as strengths and opportunities for improvement.

Tip: The first time you create a Speaker Progress assignment, you’ll receive a short overview of what Speaker Progress is and how to use it. Take a moment to review the overview.

Choose feedback types

When you create the Speaker Progress assignment, you will be prompted to choose the aspects of public speaking that you want students to focus on while practicing. Speaker Progress uses AI to assess qualities like pitch, pace, and pronunciation to help evaluate students as they speak. Tips are provided in real time, helping learners make adjustments and overcome challenges in the moment. Simply toggle the switches next to the feedback types to learn more and apply them to the assignment.

You can select all the feedback types or choose from:

• Pace
• Filler Words
• Pitch
• Pronunciation
• Inclusiveness
• Repetitive language
• Body language

Tip: Selecting feedback types allows you to create a personalized experience that targets the exact skills your students need to develop. You must select at least one to create the assignment, so take a moment to review the cards that appear on screen or check out Getting started with Speaker Progress for educators: What students are evaluated on.

Finalize and send the assignment

The last step before assigning practice to students involves finalizing the Speaker Progress assignment in Microsoft Teams for Education. Just like all other assignments in Microsoft Teams, you can adjust when it’s delivered, who should complete the assignment, and what additional resources to include. You can also add a point value for grading and include any directions for students. Check out the training course Organize content, create assignments, and assess learners’ understanding in Microsoft Teams if you need help completing any of the fields.

You might consider adding a rubric and a Microsoft Reflect check-in if this is your students’ first time using Speaker Progress. A rubric will clarify how you plan to evaluate their speaking skills, and a short Reflect check-in can provide you with insights on how students feel using Speaker Progress.

When you’re finished customizing the assignments, be sure to choose Assign.

Tip: Built-in AI in assignments can help you generate instructions and enrich your content. Get suggestions for adding more details, adding learning objectives, emphasizing key concepts, and even making your assignments more interesting. After the content is created, you can make further edits and updates as you go.

How students complete Speaker Progress assignments

When students receive a Speaker Progress assignment, they select the Speaker Progress link in the My work section. Students will be prompted to check their microphone and video settings before beginning their rehearsal. They can also view the time limit and number of attempts that you set up when creating the assignment.

What makes Speaker Progress assignments so beneficial is that students do not need an audience or someone to assess their speech. Students immediately receive AI-generated feedback when they start speaking. The feedback includes words of encouragement and coaching tips that appear as pop-ups on their computer screen. Students can mute this feedback if it’s distracting and opt to see it in the rehearsal report once they’re done practicing.

A bar above the recording lets learners know when they’re reaching the end of their session. If the assignment has a time limit, the bar changes to red to let students know they have 30 seconds remaining. When they’re finished, students select the stop button. The session automatically ends once the time limit expires. Learn more about the student experience in the support article Getting started with Speaker Progress for students.

Tip: For more accurate feedback, encourage students to find a quiet, distraction-free space to complete Speaker Progress assignments.

Review the rehearsal

When students finish rehearsing, they can choose to:

• Try again if you allowed more than one attempt when creating the Speaker Progress assignment. If learners try again, their current recording is erased and replaced with a new recording. Learners can’t recover and submit a previous recording.
• View the rehearsal report if you allowed students to review the report before grading and returning the assignment.
• Attach the recording to their assignment. If students are on their last try and viewing their report isn’t allowed, their last recorded attempt is automatically attached to their assignment.

The rehearsal report includes a breakdown of strengths and opportunities for improvement based on the AI feedback. Suggestions are designed to be actionable so students can immediately make changes to their delivery. Students can also re-watch their rehearsal by playing the recording and listening for feedback instances.

Tip: Directing students to re-watch a rehearsal and identify when they used filler words or repetitive language can help them take steps to improve their delivery.

Assess an assignment

When you open a student’s completed Speaker Progress assignment, you automatically receive the rehearsal report along with the rehearsal recording. If a student previously completed Speaker Progress assignments, the insights cards in the report include comparison data from their most recent assignment. A plus sign (+) indicates an increase in occurrences in a specific feedback type, and a minus sign (-) indicates a decline.

After reviewing the report and insights, you can use Speed Grader to share your feedback and assign a grade. Use the dropdown menu to Return the assignment to the student or Return for revision if students need to practice more.

Tip: Share a copy of the Speaker Progress Presentation Tips infographic with students so that they have a resource to reference when rehearsing or after you return a Speaker Progress assignment.

Speaker Progress is available for you to use with any age or subject area. Open Microsoft Teams for Education, create an assignment, and start helping students develop speaking skills. To learn more about Speaker Progress, take the Develop confident presenters with Speaker Progress training course on Microsoft Learn.

The post Develop confident communicators: A guide to Speaker Progress for educators appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

However, the reality of preparing for the new school year often involves a significant amount of hard work and dedication that sometimes feels unseen. Join us in celebrating this back-to-school season—and recognizing the work that goes into it—by watching our special video.

At Microsoft Education, we see you, we understand you, and we’re here to support you every step of the way.

It’s your time to shine

While the dream of a fresh start is inspiring, the reality of preparing for the new school year can be daunting. The familiar sounds of chairs scraping the floor, the scent of new books, and the sight of students eagerly entering the classroom are all part of the hustle and bustle. Setting up a classroom, planning lessons, and organizing materials require an immense amount of effort and attention to detail.

Along with all the hard work, we understand that there’s a profound sense of joy and fulfillment that comes with being an educator. The opportunity to shape young minds, inspire curiosity, and make a difference in students’ lives is incredibly rewarding. You’re driven by your passion for education and your commitment to your students’ success. This passion fuels your perseverance and motivates you to overcome any obstacles you may face. Back-to-school season isn’t all sunshine and rainbows—but it’s your time to shine!

We also acknowledge the diversity and fullness of the education community. From special education teachers, paraeducators, librarians, coaches, counselors, administrators, IT professionals, support staff, parents, caregivers, and many others, each role is vital in creating a supportive and enriching environment for students. Your collective efforts make a significant impact on the lives of young learners.

We’re with you this back-to-school season

At Microsoft Education, we recognize the incredible dedication and effort that you put into your work. We understand the challenges you face and the dreams you have for your students. That’s why we’re committed to providing you with the tools and resources you need to succeed. From innovative technology solutions to professional learning opportunities, we’re here to support you and your students during the back-to-school season and beyond.

For many educators, the beginning of a new school year is like a blank canvas, full of potential and promise. It’s a time to implement new ideas, try out innovative teaching methods, and create an engaging and dynamic classroom environment. You dream of making a positive impact on your students’ lives, helping them achieve their goals, and igniting a passion for learning that will last a lifetime. Our video is dedicated to educators like you—and your tremendous efforts to make this transitional time a smooth and cheerful one!

As you embark on this new school year, remember that Microsoft Education is here to help you turn your dreams into reality. Whether you’re looking for ways to enhance your classroom with technology or seeking new strategies for engaging your students, we’ve got you covered. Together, we can make this school year the best one yet. You’ve got this!

The post Microsoft Education has your back this back-to-school season appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Fresno Unified School District (FUSD) is the third largest school district in the state of California, US, serving approximately 71,000 students. In August 2023, FUSD launched a literary initiative to help get students reading on grade level by the end of first grade.

To support this initiative, FUSD adopted innovative literacy tools like Reading Progress, a Learning Accelerator from Microsoft. Reading Progress is a powerful reading fluency tool that tracks a student’s reading skills, helping them to focus on specific areas of improvement, while quickly providing actionable insights for educators.

Integrated seamlessly into Microsoft Teams for Education, Reading Progress simplifies the process of creating, reviewing, and analyzing reading assignments. It offers educators and reading specialists valuable data visualizations for both class and individual performance and growth. New enhancements including AI passage generation and AI comprehension questions generation help educators to save time while personalizing learning experiences for students’ needs.

Measuring impact on student achievement

To gain a clearer picture of Reading Progress in the classroom, Microsoft partnered with LearnPlatform to evaluate the impact of the tool on FUSD K-6 students’ reading achievement. Read the full Reading Progress in Fresno Unified School District (2023-24) study.

The results were promising. The study found a positive correlation between consistent Reading Progress usage and improved reading outcomes for kindergarten through sixth-grade students. In fact, students who regularly engaged with Reading Progress demonstrated two key improvements: higher reading accuracy and faster reading speeds.

Reading Progress makes my job easier. I used to do fluency individually with the students and it took so much valuable class time. With Reading Progress, they can push themselves to read independently.

Idia Elegbede-Abode, Teacher, Aynesworth Elementary, Fresno, California, US

Study methodology

To ensure the findings about Reading Progress were reliable, researchers utilized an approach that meets the rigorous evidence standards for Level II (Moderate Evidence) under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The research employed a quasi-experimental design, a common approach in educational research. This approach compared students who used Reading Progress to those who did not. To enhance the study’s rigor, propensity score matching was used to create comparable groups of students, helping to mitigate potential biases.

The study focused on:

• 1,404 kindergarten through 6th grade students
• 702 who used Reading Progress
• 702 who did not

Researchers collected and analyzed data on:

• Reading Progress usage
• i-Ready reading assessments scores
• Student demographics

The analysis showed that Reading Progress had a positive impact on student reading achievement. This was particularly noticeable for two cases: when students increased usage, and for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Let’s dig deeper into the results.

Higher gains

Students using Reading Progress consistently showed significantly higher gains in iReady reading scores for both K-2 and grades 3-6 students compared to non-users.

The average i-Ready score among Reading Progress users was 454: significantly higher than the average non-user score of 448.

To put this in perspective, if a student at the 50^th percentile had used Reading Progress, they would be expected to perform at the 54^th percentile. While this may seem like a modest gain, it represents meaningful progress in reading achievement.

A reading equalizer

Reading Progress was shown to benefit English language learners and students who qualified for free/reduced lunch.

The average full year i-Ready score among English learners who used Reading Progress was 440, significantly higher than the average non-user score of 429.

This difference is significant. An English learner at the 50^th percentile using Reading Progress would be expected to perform at the 59^th percentile: a jump equivalent to roughly one full grade level.

For Reading Progress users who qualified for free/reduced price lunch, their score was 451 as opposed to the average non-user score of 444. This translates to a possible 50^th percentile to 55^th percentile jump, indicating that Reading Progress can be a valuable tool in supporting diverse learner populations.

According to elementary school teacher Idia Elegbede-Abode, “Reading Progress makes my job easier. I used to do fluency individually with the students and it took so much valuable class time. With Reading Progress, they can push themselves to read independently. At the end of the day, I look and see where they are, and it helps me to better group the students. Reading Progress has also improved my students’ motivation. And since I assign it as homework, the parents have even been getting involved! In Fourth Grade, you’re not learning how to read, you’re reading to learn. With Reading Progress taking care of fluency, we can use precious class time to focus on comprehension.”

Consistency is key

Students who used Reading Progress more frequently demonstrated higher reading accuracy and faster reading speeds.

Seventy-eight percent of K-2 Reading Progress users submitted between two and five assignments per month that were, on average, 38% accurate. Those who submitted more assignments, however, had a 10% higher average accuracy percentage across their assignments.

For me, the benefits of Reading Progress are that I can have alone time with every kid without having to have alone time with every kid! I can see my students on the screen, I can hear their voices, and I know exactly how they’re reading.

Errin Topolovec, Teacher, Ayer Elementary, Fresno, California, US

Meanwhile, 83% of grade 3-6 Reading Progress users submitted 20 or fewer assignments, with those submitting more assignments scoring six points higher on their full year i-Ready Reading assessment.

These findings suggest that increased engagement with Reading Progress correlates with improved reading performance, highlighting the potential benefits of consistent use.

Errin Topolovec, another elementary school teacher said, “For me, the benefits of Reading Progress are that I can have alone time with every kid without having to have alone time with every kid! I can see my students on the screen, I can hear their voices, and I know exactly how they’re reading. Reading Progress also really helps to drive my instruction. I can look at it and I start taking notes, then pick a targeted group, pull them over, and hit what they really need to learn to become exceptional readers. For my students, they’ve become much better readers because they are far more aware of their own reading.”

How to get started with Reading Progress

Reading Progress is a valuable tool for improving literacy rates across grade levels. This study confirms that consistent use of Reading Progress maximized student benefits and enabled educators to leverage data to inform instruction and provide differentiated support to students. It even shows potential in reducing achievement gaps.

Integrating Reading Progress into a literacy curriculum is simple. Here’s how to get started:

1. Create assignments: Educators can easily create an assignment within Microsoft Teams for Education using Reading Progress.
2. Student engagement: Students complete the assignment by reading a passage, while recording their voice, and optionally, their video.  
3. Fluency analysis: Reading Progress then analyzes student reading fluency, checking for pronunciation, inserted words, omitted words, and repeated words.
4. Data-driven instruction: Educators then receive data that includes an accuracy percentage and the identified words so that they can tailor instruction accordingly.

Create assignments in Microsoft Teams

Educators can easily create a practice assignment with Reading Progress through Assignments in Microsoft Teams for Education. You can use your own Word or PDF file from your computer, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, Class Notebook or select a passage from the embedded ReadWorks library or use the new passage generator tool.

Personalize passages and assessments with AI-enabled features

Two AI-powered features have been added to Reading Progress, passage and comprehension question generation.

• Passage generation allows educators to create custom passages tailored to the specific needs and reading levels of their students.
• Comprehension questions generation analyzes a specific reading passage and creates true or false, multiple-choice, and fill-in-the-blank questions. You can then customize, add, or delete these questions

Strengthen reading fluency

The standalone Reading Coach Preview app, another Learning Accelerator, complements Reading Progress by providing personalized and engaging reading fluency practice: even at home. It keeps learners motivated by allowing them to create unique AI-generated stories with customizable characters and settings from a curated collection. Reading Coach is available for free as a web app and a Windows app to use in the classroom or at home with a Microsoft account.

Enhance accuracy and track growth in assignments

Reviewing your students’ practice assignments in Reading Progress is straightforward. Easily jump to specific words in the video or audio recording and listen to individual students’ pronunciations.

Reading Progress data is available through the Education Insights dashboard, revealing crucial trends and patterns. Education Insights shows individual, class, or schoolwide student data to help inform targeted initiatives, personalize interventions, and identify areas for improvement in students. This comprehensive data analysis supports administrators in making informed decisions to enhance student outcomes.

Learn more about how Reading Progress can boost literacy in the classroom with these powerful resources.

• Get started today with the Reading Progress Quick Guide and Reading Coach Quick Guide PDFs.
• Download 5 things to know about Microsoft Reading Progress and Reading Coach.
• Check out Building reading foundational skills: A guide to Reading Progress and Reading Coach in Teams for educators.
• Read how Milton Area School District (US) uses Reading Progress in Microsoft Teams to track students’ reading skills and focus on areas for improvement.
• Learn how The Stour Academy Trust uses Reading Progress and Reading Coach to support students with reading difficulties.
• Take the free training Support reading fluency practice with Reading Progress on Microsoft Learn.

The post New study shows improved reading scores by using Reading Progress appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

With Learning Accelerators, students can practice and build their skills in engaging and interactive ways, while you can gather data and insights to help them improve. These powerful tools included in Microsoft 365 Education can help you personalize learning for your students—and new AI-powered capabilities can help you prepare, review, and analyze their assignments more efficiently. Read on to explore the latest AI features in Learning Accelerators.

Support reading comprehension with Reading Progress

Reading Progress tracks your students’ reading skills, gives you actionable insights quickly, and focuses students on specific areas for improvement. It provides actionable insights at the student-level and the class-level, allowing you to tailor your lessons more easily. The latest AI features in Reading Progress include:

• Passage generation: Generate a passage directly in Reading Progress and leverage insights to personalize it based on the needs of your class and individual students. Select a topic, age, length, and language, and easily adjust the complexity of the passage once it has been generated.
• Comprehension questions: Generate comprehension questions based on specific reading passages. Specify the number of questions you want to generate and customize the passage complexity. Reading Progress uses AI to draft an initial question set that you can review and tailor to your students’ needs.

Get started with Reading Progress in Microsoft Teams for Education. To learn more, check out the following resources:

• A guide to Reading Progress and Reading Coach in Teams for educators
• Reading Progress Quick Guide PDF
• Reading Progress product guide – Microsoft Learn Educator Center
• Support reading fluency practice with Reading Progress – Training

Personalize reading practice with Reading Coach

Reading Coach Preview provides personalized, engaging AI-powered reading fluency practice for all learners. This powerful tool helps students develop literacy skills by earning achievements and unlocking new story elements as they read, driving continuous engagement. The AI features in Reading Coach include:

• AI-generated stories: Students can create their own stories by choosing a character, setting, and reading level, and follow their own path through the story by choosing what happens in each chapter.  
• Passage library and adding your own content: Students can choose from a curated, reading level-appropriate library of passages from ReadWorks. They can also add their own content to practice reading.
• Personalized and engaged practice: For every 20 minutes of reading any content, students can unlock a new character for their next story. Each reading session is also followed by targeted practice and coaching on challenging words.

Reading Coach Preview is currently available for free to use at school with a Microsoft Entra ID (school account) or at home using a personal Microsoft account. Get started with Reading Coach online or download the Windows app and use these resources to learn more:

• Reading Coach with AI stories Quick Guide PDF
• Build reading fluency with Reading Coach – Training

Develop confident communicators with Speaker Progress

Speaker Progress is now generally available! This innovative real-time coaching tool makes it easy to create presentation assignments that can help your students build their speaking skills. Students can boost their confidence by practicing in private—helping to reduce anxiety by removing the pressures of a full audience. The AI-powered features in Speaker Progress support you and your students by making learning more personalized and effective.

• Real-time presentation evaluation: AI helps evaluate the presenter with feedback on their presentation skills, including pace, pitch, filler words, body language, and more. Tips are provided in real time, helping learners make adjustments and overcome challenges in the moment.
• Personalized rehearsal report: An AI-generated rehearsal report provides detailed analysis of each presentation. This report allows students to review their performance and improve their verbal delivery with each attempt.

These features also offer additional opportunities for independent practice, empowering your students to continually improve their presentation skills and boost their confidence. Get started with Speaker Progress in Microsoft Teams for Education. Explore these resources to learn more:

• Getting started with Speaker Progress for educators – Microsoft Support
• Getting started with Speaker Progress for students – Microsoft Support
• Develop confident presenters with Speaker Progress – Training

New AI features in Microsoft Teams for Education

In addition to the exciting AI-powered enhancements in Learning Accelerators, we’re pleased to share new capabilities in Microsoft Teams for Education. Designed to improve your workflow and maximize your instructional time, these updates use AI to help you draft content like rubrics and assignment instructions.

• Create rubrics in Assignments: With generative AI integrated into Assignments, enter what you want the rubric to assess, and Assignments will suggest criteria and draft the rubric for you.
• Create instructions in Assignments: Get multiple suggestions for how to enrich the content, such as adding more details, adding learning objectives, emphasizing key concepts, and even making your assignments more interesting. After the content is created, you can make further edits and updates as you go.

Download Microsoft Teams for Education to get started and check out the Teams for Education hub in the Microsoft Learn Educator Center for trainings, demos, and more.

Unlock the potential of the latest AI features for Learning Accelerators in your classroom today. In addition to leveraging the AI features above, we recommend building a strong foundation for understanding AI in education with the free AI for educators training courses and resources from the Microsoft Learn Educator Center.

The post Explore new AI features in Learning Accelerators appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Khanmigo for Teachers helps generate fresh lesson ideas, personalizes student assignments, and provides resources for educators to enhance their knowledge and stay current on content area topics. It’s quick to set up and even quicker to use. Khanmigo for Teachers helps you inject new life into learning experiences and streamline your prep work so that you can focus more on connecting with students and watching those “aha!” moments unfold.

Designed for educators

Khanmigo for Teachers is designed for educators (by a team of educators!) and requires no prompting. While AI assistants like Microsoft Copilot excel at helping you write letters, explain a concept, create an image, or analyze a file, Khanmigo focuses specifically on providing tailored educational experiences for you to get started with. Watch the Empowering teachers with AI video to see how one chemistry teacher uses Khanmigo to engage students in the classroom.

Khanmigo is designed to make your job less about paperwork and more about teaching. It’s built to understand the challenges you face in the classroom and to be user-friendly. Khanmigo offers over 25 educator-specific tools to save you time and enhance your teaching expertise. Simply type in your topic or pick from the suggestions, and you get innovative and interesting lesson plans, activities, and more.

How to get started with Khanmigo for Teachers

Getting started with Khanmigo for Teachers is easy. In just a few simple steps, you’ll be on your way. To set up your account:

1. Go to khanmigo.ai/teachers
2. Select “Teacher” as your account type.
3. Choose your preferred option for creating an account (i.e., using email or a social media account).
4. Fill out the required information on the form.
5. Select “Sign up” and you’ll be ready to get started.

After you sign into your account, you’ll be guided through a brief tour and have access to the features and resources available on Khanmigo.

Get to know the Khanmigo dashboard

The Khanmigo dashboard is your starting point for managing your students’ assignments, supporting your instructional needs, and accessing curated resources. Explore the tabs at the top of the dashboard for easy access to Khanmigo’s features.

• Khanmigo Tools: Find AI-powered tools to help you innovate and create.
• Classes: Create your classes and obtain a class snapshot of your students’ performance over the past week, including learning time, assignment completion, and mastery progress.
• Students: Manage student accounts quickly and easily and set reading levels and default language.
• Resources: Get access to ready-to-use printables for students and families, all the documents you create, and professional learning videos and tips in one easy place.

Use Khanmigo to lighten your load

The Khanmigo for Teachers tools can be organized into five categories—Plan, Create, Differentiate, Support, and Learn—to help you easily find what you need to enhance learning experiences.

• Plan: Tools designed to enhance instructional planning and classroom management. They can help you:
  • Review student performance trends.
  • Craft meaningful discussion prompts.
  • Create quick end-of-lesson assessments, and more.

• Create: Tools designed to enhance classroom communication, streamline assessments, and support instructional planning. Use this collection to:
  • Generate concise easy-to-follow directions for assignments.
  • Create detailed rubrics for setting expectations.
  • Design engaging class newsletters.

• Differentiate: Tools to tailor instruction and meet diverse student interests and needs. Use these tools to help you:
  • Break up complex texts.
  • Adjust text complexity.
  • Link lesson content to students’ lives and interests.
  • Enhance engagement and comprehension.

• Support: Tools to streamline and enhance student support services, designed to help you:
  • Streamline the creation of Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).
  • Create SMART goals with ease (Specific, Measurable, Assignable, Realistic, and Time-bound).

• Learn: Tools to enhance your professional knowledge and skills. Use these to:
  • Refresh your content knowledge in various subject areas through quizzing or conversing with Khanmigo.
  • Get resources, such as videos, articles, and practice exercises, to help you get up to speed on the selected topic.

All Khanmigo’s tools feature intuitive prompts to help you get started quickly. Simply tell Khanmigo your grade or year level and a few key details, and it’ll effortlessly provide you with what you need. Now, let’s take a closer look at how some of the tools work.

Spark your students’ curiosity

Capturing students’ interest in the content being covered is key to ensuring their enthusiasm and engagement. Khanmigo tools like Lesson Hook, Make it Relevant, and Real-World Context Generator can help you brainstorm ways to spark excitement and make content relevant.

• Lesson Hook: Generate several compelling ideas by providing the grade or year level, lesson topic, and context. This tool helps you create an engaging opening to your lessons that captures students’ attention right from the start.
• Make it Relevant!: Connect lesson topics to your students’ lives or interests. Input your learning objectives and a brief profile of your class, and this tool will offer several ideas to boost engagement by making the content more relatable.
• Real-World Context Generator: Link lesson topics to real-world examples and applications. By entering the grade level and topic, Khanmigo provides relevant connections, making the material more meaningful and practical for your students.

Streamline your workflows

You can easily make your workflows more efficient and save time with Khanmigo tools. Get a head start on essential administrative and instructional tasks with tools like Class Newsletter, Report Card Comments, Question Generator, and Recommended Assignments. The tools help you save time by providing you with starting content that you can build on.

• Class Newsletter: Imagine turning your bullet points into a stylish newsletter in a snap! Just list the week’s highlights, upcoming events, and key announcements. Khanmigo whips up a draft and can even translate it. Pro tip: Always double-check those translations before hitting send!
• Report Card Comments: No more staring at a blank screen! Feed Khanmigo a list of strengths and areas for growth, and watch it spin out thoughtful, actionable comments that you can personalize for your students.
• Question Generator: Need discussion starters or quiz questions? Just give Khanmigo the grade or year level, number of questions (up to 10), and up to 4,500 words of text, and you’ve got a question bank to build from.
• Recommend Assignments: Receive assignment suggestions based on your students’ performance data. Customize these tasks or assign them directly to address areas where students need more practice or can excel.

These are just a few of the ways Khanmigo for Teachers can help you get ahead this year. If you’re ready to jump in, sign up for Khanmigo for Teachers today and be sure to reference our Khanmigo for Teachers Quick Guide as you’re getting started!

The post Khanmigo for Teachers: Your free AI-powered teaching tool appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

Whether you need a starting point for a welcome back letter or enhancements to existing lesson plans, Copilot is ready to assist. Simply tell Copilot what you want to create, and it will help you generate new content in seconds. With simple knowledge about how Copilot works, and some example prompts you can use, getting started is easy!

Working with Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot is a generative AI tool that produces new content from your instructions, known as prompts. You can use natural language—whether typed or spoken—to ask for what you need from Copilot.

If you’re new to Copilot, review Meet your AI assistant for education: Microsoft Copilot so that you understand its features, options, and ways you can optimize your prompts. To get started, simply open copilot.microsoft.com or select the Copilot icon in your Microsoft Edge browser.

Throughout this post, you’ll find sample prompts that demonstrate how Copilot can help you with your back-to-school tasks. We recommend borrowing inspiration from them and adjusting the prompts based on your role, subject area, and the students you support. Or, if you’re just beginning, you can use the prompts without modifications.

Now let’s learn how Copilot can help you complete five common back-to-school tasks.

1. Create classroom setup checklists

Setting up a classroom involves everything from organizing furniture and materials to making sure that anything a student needs to learn is visible, accessible, and distraction-free. Copilot can offer ideas to consider when creating a welcoming and organized classroom with a prompt like this:

You are a first-year, middle school art teacher who is setting up a classroom for the first time. Create a checklist that includes 5 examples or ideas for each of the following: ways to set up a classroom for student collaboration, strategies for establishing quiet work areas, methods to ensure art supplies are accessible, and ideas to facilitate whole group instruction.

If you already know how you’ll lay out your classroom, you might consider asking Copilot to create a checklist of common hazards in classrooms and ways to make your classroom safer for students. Try using a prompt like, “Create a checklist of 10 common hazards found in classrooms and ways to fix the issue so that the classroom is safe for students.”

2. Generate bulletin board ideas

Creating a bulletin board display requires educators to come up with ideas that are developmentally appropriate, aligned to classroom activities, and engaging for people who visit the display. Luckily, Copilot can help you brainstorm ideas! Here’s a prompt that generates suggestions for bulletin boards that are standards-based and interactive:

You are a second-grade teacher in New York state who follows the English language arts standards in the New York Next-Generation State Standards initiative. Create a list of 10 bulletin board ideas that creatively incorporates Anchor Standard L1: “Demonstrate command of the conventions of academic English grammar and usage when writing or speaking” that students will learn in grade 2. The bulletin board ideas should include a way for students to interact with the bulletin board.

Customize the state, country, and learning standards in your content area to get relevant, personalized ideas for your students. You can also ask Copilot to generate ideas based on a classroom theme. Try adding a sentence like, “Each bulletin board idea should incorporate frogs, tadpoles, or lily pads.” Swap out amphibian-related terms for more relevant topics if they don’t align with your classroom’s theme. If decorating your classroom isn’t standard practice, try asking Copilot for ideas on creating an engaging classroom environment that’s relevant to your space and learning themes.

3. Write a welcome letter to families

Many educators send a welcome back to school letter to students and families before the first day of school. It’s a great way to introduce yourself and provide important reminders so that students are ready for school on day one. A prompt for generating a welcome letter with Copilot might resemble this:

You are an advisor who works with a small group of incoming first-year and new high school students. Write a welcome letter that introduces yourself to the students, shares times when students can meet you before school begins, provides reminders about things to complete before the end of summer, and includes what to bring on the first day of school. Conclude the letter with a paragraph about how to contact you with any questions. Write the letter using short, succinct paragraphs that are readable by all ages.

For best results, personalize the prompt by specifying your role and the students you support—you’ll get a more relevant response from Copilot. If your roster includes multilingual students with families who may prefer communication in a language other than English, Copilot can draft content in multiple languages. Add something like, “Re-write this letter in Spanish” after Copilot finishes and it will generate a Spanish version of the letter for you. Just make sure to review the translation with someone who’s fluent in the chosen language so that you know it’s accurate and culturally appropriate.

4. Enhance inclusivity in lesson plans

Each school year brings new initiatives and priorities that educators must put into practice in their classrooms. School leaders often emphasize inclusive practices like differentiation or Universal Design for Learning (UDL) for educators to use to support diverse learning needs. Copilot can offer relevant suggestions and ways to enhance lessons based on research-based learning approaches like these. Whether you want to align a lesson to standards or refresh existing lessons with new resources or activities, Copilot can help!

To analyze a lesson, you need to know how to add a file to a Copilot prompt.

1. Go to copilot.microsoft.com
2. Log into Copilot with a school-issued Microsoft account so that commercial data protection is enabled.
3. Select the Add a file button.
4. Browse your device for a lesson plan and select Open. The file size limit is 1 MB unless your school has a Copilot for Microsoft 365 license (then the limit is 10 MB, with unlimited uploads).
5. Add a prompt like the one below in the Ask me anything field and select the Submit button.

You are an instructional designer who specializes in universal design for learning (UDL) in self-contained classrooms. Analyze the attached lesson plan and provide two suggestions for optimizing individual choice and autonomy (checkpoint 7.1), two suggestions for optimizing relevance, value, and authenticity (checkpoint 7.2), and two suggestions for minimizing threats and distractions (checkpoint 7.3).

Notice how the prompt referenced the attached lesson plan to guide Copilot towards a more relevant response. Make sure to include this type of direction when you write your own prompt. You can also ask Copilot to provide suggestions based on student interests. Try including, “Provide at least one suggestion that incorporates video, coding, and art.”

5. Develop assessments to understand students’ strengths

Pre-assessing students’ knowledge and skills helps identify what students already know before starting new instruction. This is especially important at the beginning of a new school year when students’ strengths and needs are largely unknown. Plus, a solid pre-assessment allows you to modify instruction so that it addresses what’s most relevant and applicable for your students. For example:

You are an experienced high school math teacher specializing in AP Precalculus. Create a pre-assessment designed to evaluate students’ understanding for the first unit on Polynomial and Rational Functions. The pre-assessment should include 10 open-ended problems that effectively identify areas where students excel and where they need improvement. Provide a detailed answer key with the correct solutions and step-by-step explanations for each problem.

Another approach is to ask Copilot to create questions based on common misconceptions for a particular topic or subject area. Copilot is flexible enough to generate sample questions with or without standards-based guidance, but you should always check the citations and evaluate the accuracy of the response.

Explore more ways Copilot can help

Copilot is a versatile AI tool that adapts to your specific needs and can help you prepare to welcome students into your classroom. Remember, the prompts in this post are just starting points. Iterate on each example, try adding new instructions, and personalize what you tell Copilot. Customized prompts will produce more relevant content for your classroom.

Ready to learn more? For a deeper understanding of Copilot’s capabilities, check out the following resources:

• Smart learning: AI resources every educator should know
• AI for educators learning path on Microsoft Learn
• Microsoft Copilot resources for education – Microsoft Adoption

These resources cover many ways that Copilot can help you become more efficient in your classroom. Give Microsoft Copilot a try and see how it can enhance your teaching capabilities!

The post 5 ways Copilot can help you start the school year appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.

The University of Sydney (UofS) recognized the potential of generative AI to enhance teaching practices and assessments, enrich the learning experience, and prepare students for an evolving job market. However, they quickly realized that an out-of-the-box solution wouldn’t suffice, given their unique requirements for security, customization, and contextualization. UofS has demonstrated a successful path forward using Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service to build a custom AI solution to meet their needs. By showcasing responsible and effective integration of generative AI, they provide a model for other institutions. Their experience offers valuable insights to tailor AI tools to your unique needs and goals for successful implementation.

Read the full UofS customer story to learn more about their exciting custom AI solutions.

Building a custom AI assistant

Enter Cogniti, a self-serve web app authenticated through Microsoft Entra ID, developed by Danny Liu, Professor of Educational Technologies at UofS. Cogniti is built on the secure and private Azure OpenAI Service platform and empowers faculty to create their own AI agents that they can customize and contextualize to their unique needs, helping students learn in pedagogically meaningful ways. “Faculty love the fact that they can control and therefore trust the AI and that it’s so easy to build their own agents using plain language and embed it into our learning management system for students to use,” said Liu.

With the help of Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot, Professor Liu handled the bulk of Cogniti’s development, from coding to faculty integration. “It was amazing to have Microsoft Copilot working alongside me, troubleshooting, and debugging,” he says. “I wouldn’t have been able to build Cogniti in the time that I did if it weren’t for Copilot.”

By leveraging Azure’s robust infrastructure and GitHub Copilot, Professor Liu developed Cogniti efficiently while maintaining alignment with the university’s objectives. Cogniti addressed privacy concerns by ensuring the confidentiality of prompts and responses, which are not used for further training by OpenAI. This powerful combination provides a secure environment for sensitive educational data and accelerates the development process.

Practical pedagogical applications

Cogniti has been successfully integrated into various pedagogical scenarios at UofS, enhancing student learning and faculty support.

• Bridging theory and practice: Occupational therapy students gained practical experience by role-playing with “Mrs. S,” an AI-simulated client. This allowed them to apply classroom knowledge to a realistic scenario, effectively bridging the gap between theory and practice.
• Consistent student feedback: A coordinator managing large first-year classes with 1,500 students used a Cogniti AI agent to improve grading consistency, quality, and efficiency. The agent incorporated rubrics, assignment expectations, and feedback examples, resulting in faster marking and more consistent feedback for students.
• On-demand biochemistry support: UofS teaches biochemistry to over 800 students who have thousands of questions each semester. With Cogniti, these students can engage in dialogue anytime, discussing course material, explaining their understanding, and receiving valuable feedback from the AI tutor.
• Empowering tutors in complex conversations: Following legislative changes in Australia, the University of Sydney implemented a new student support policy requiring tutors and faculty to advise students on academic issues. These meetings often lead to discussions about well-being, health, or finances. To help tutors navigate unexpected topics, the university fed scenario-specific prompts to Cogniti, offering instant guidance for questions beyond the scope of academic issues.

The benefits of Cogniti are far-reaching. Educators can now allocate more time to deeper engagement and personalized feedback, while students enjoy enhanced learning experiences through interactive AI assistance. Cogniti also offers students valuable opportunities to develop familiarity with AI within a safe, controlled environment, which will be increasingly crucial in their future careers.

The university’s commitment to equitable access to AI is clear in its decision to offer Cogniti for free to all students and staff. As Joanne Wright, Deputy Vice Chancellor of Education, states, “One of the values of Cogniti is that it can be used in a number of different learning settings. Faculty can even personalize it to meet their students’ preferences, weaknesses, or strengths.” Looking ahead, the university hopes to expand Cogniti’s use to more institutions worldwide, believing that its controllability, stability, safety, and accuracy can help dispel fears surrounding generative AI in education. Learn more about the University of Sydney’s inspiring journey with custom generative AI.

Build your own custom AI solution

If you’re interested in building your own custom generative AI solution for your institution, in a similar way to what the UofS accomplished with Cogniti, consider these first steps for getting started.

1. Purchase the necessary IT infrastructure, licenses, and software to create a custom AI application using the Azure OpenAI Service.
2. Review the Overview of Responsible AI practices for Azure OpenAI models and Azure OpenAI’s Transparency Notes to ensure responsible use of the service and understand any system limitations.
3. Assemble a group of school and instructional leaders who are enthusiastic about piloting your AI program to help design, test, and provide feedback.
4. As you begin to develop and document your implementation plan, consider addressing the concerns of all stakeholders, including community members. For guidance, consult the “Engaging your community” section within the Microsoft Education AI Toolkit.
5. Before you begin building, familiarize yourself with step-by-step technical overviews in the implementation roadmap in the “AI Navigators” section of the Microsoft Education AI Toolkit to understand how educational institutions like the Department for Education in South Australia successfully implemented their AI programs.

The UofS is also keen to partner with institutions who may want to adapt Cogniti in their own contexts. This is an inspiring example of how educational institutions can safely and responsibly build and integrate generative AI tools into teaching and learning practices. By embracing this transformative technology, you can also improve the quality of students’ education and equip them with the skills they need to thrive in an increasingly digital world.

Explore more about Azure OpenAI services and how to build custom chatbots with these resources:

• Azure AI Studio
• Microsoft Azure AI Fundamentals: Generative AI
• Microsoft Copilot Studio
• GitHub Copilot Fundamentals – Understand the AI pair programmer

The post University of Sydney: Building custom AI solutions with Azure OpenAI appeared first on Microsoft Education Blog.